A judge refuses to toss states’ lawsuit against Elon Musk and DOGE

FILE – Elon Musk speaks at a town hall March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit that accuses billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency of illegally accessing government data systems, canceling government contracts and firing federal employees.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled Tuesday that 14 states can proceed with their claims against Musk and DOGE. The states, through their attorneys general, sued in February over the defendants’ alleged constitutional violations.

The states had asked Chutkan to temporarily block DOGE from accessing any data systems or terminating any federal employees. But the judge denied that request on Feb. 18. She found that there were legitimate questions about Musk’s authority but said there weren’t grounds to justify a temporary restraining order.

Elon Musk looks on as President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Chutkan agreed Tuesday to dismiss President Donald Trump as a defendant in the lawsuit, but she refused to dismiss the claims against Musk and DOGE.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that Musk’s actions, including those carried out at his direction by DOGE personnel, are unconstitutional because he hasn’t been legally appointed.

Chutkan wrote: “The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency pursuant to Executive Order and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘advisor’ in name only. This is precisely what Plaintiffs claim the Executive has done.”

The Trump administration has maintained that layoffs are coming from agency heads and insisted that Musk hasn’t been running DOGE’s day-to-day operations.

Chutkan, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, previously oversaw the now-dismissed criminal election interference case against Trump in Washington.